Your costly cable box is likely getting the ax. Here's what the FCC is considering instead.

(Image credit: CNNMoney/YouTube)

last updated 21 August 2016

The Federal Communications Commission is looking at two proposals to get rid of that cable set-top box you rent from your cable provider, at an average cost of $231 a year. That's good news if you are a cable subscriber, though it's a $20 billion loss in rental fees for the cable companies.

The two proposals the FCC is considering to replace the cable box are also very different, explains Seth Fiegerman at CNNMoney. In January, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler proposed giving subscribers the option to scrap the set-top box, which you can only get from the cable company, for a cheaper third-party device that would also allow streaming Netflix, Hulu, or other online content services.

Cable companies hated this "Unlock the Box" proposal, which they blamed (probably unfairly) on Google, the tech giant that's edging into the cable/broadband market and would presumably make one of those third-party devices, along with Apple, Amazon, and other tech companies. Comcast, AT&T, Dish, Time Warner Cable, and other cable interests formed a new lobbying group, the Future of TV Coalition, and went full-bore on Congress, aided by Hollywood studios, CNNMoney says. After the U.S. Copyright Office sided with the cable giants, the "Unlock the Box" proposal seems to be losing to "Ditch the Box," an alternative favored by Big Cable that would replace set-top boxes with proprietary apps.

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Big Tech isn't a fan of "Ditch the Box," and Wheeler dismissed the "one page" plan as an industry "press release." You can learn more about how each proposal would work in the CNNMoney video below, but Wheeler is said to be angling to have a final proposal in place by the end of the year, so your set-top cable box's days are probably numbered. And who knows? That might even save you $200 a year. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.